Assessing the Association Between Sex-Linkage and Sexual Dimorphism: A Novel Quantitative Genetic Approach.

物种中的雄性和雌性在大小和形状上往往有很大的差异，这种现象被称为性别二型性。这个项目问的是，尽管男性和女性的基因组基本相同，但这种二态现象是如何发生的。它以水栖类动物为模型系统，验证性染色体上的基因(性相关基因)对性二型特征有特别影响的假设。一种新颖的实验育种设计将使研究人员能够测量与性别相关的基因对一系列特征的影响，从性单形性、性二型性到性别受限(仅在男性中发现)。这项研究的一个主要进展是量化了遗传变异的各个方面，这些方面在之前所有与性别相关的影响的研究中都被合并了。这些结果将揭示允许对性别差异选择做出反应的遗传机制，更广泛地说，将增加我们对性染色体功能的理解。此外，这项研究将为遗传分析提供新的统计算法，这些算法将被整合到一个软件包中进行传播。该项目还为许多研究生和本科生提供研究机会，为外展课程和非专业课程提供教学材料，并支持吸引国内和国际合作者的专业研究基础设施。

Males and females within species often differ dramatically in size and shape, a phenomenon known as sexual dimorphism. This project asks how such dimorphisms can arise despite the substantively identical genomes of males and females. It tests the hypothesis that sexually dimorphic traits are particularly influenced by genes on the sex chromosomes (sex-linked genes), using water striders as a model system. A novel experimental breeding design will enable the investigators to measure the influence of sex-linked genes on a suite of traits ranging from sexually monomorphic, through sexually dimorphic to sex-limited (found only in males). A major advance of this research is quantifying aspects of genetic variance that have been conflated in all previous investigations of sex-linked effects. The results will reveal the genetic mechanisms that allow response to sexually-divergent selection and, more generally, will increase our understanding of the functionality of sex-chromosomes.In addition, this research will contribute new statistical algorithms for genetic analyses and these will be incorporated into a software package for dissemination. The project also provides research opportunities for many graduate and undergraduate students, contributes pedagogical materials for outreach and non-specialist courses, and supports a specialized research infrastructure that draws national and international collaborators.